Praktikos Institute

As the incidence of metabolic syndrome (six health metrics that increase risk of diabetes, heart disease and many other potentially fatal chronic conditions) continues to skyrocket in many unsuspecting individuals, a wealth of scientific evidence now shows that eating a variety of tree nuts is not only beneficial to our health, but also helps lower obesity prevalence in the adult population and aids weight management as part of a natural food diet.

A study by scientists from the Harvard School of Public Health has shown that those who consume nuts daily reduce the risk of death by 20 percent from any cause of death. For death caused by heart problems, eating nuts reduces the risk of death by 29 percent. It was also observed that eating nuts reduces deaths caused by cancer by 11 percent.

A new study, published in the online journal PLOS ONE, looks at the association between tree nuts (almonds, Brazil nuts, cashews, hazelnuts, macadamias, pecans, pine nuts, pistachios and walnuts), metabolic syndrome (MetS) and obesity in a population with a wide range of nut intake ranging from never to daily.

Its mid-afternoon and you are faced with a case of the munchies. As you face the vending machine, which snack will you choose? If you are trying to keep your weight down, your best option is a package of nuts.

Researchers at Loma Linda University have wrapped up a study on the potential health benefits of tree nuts in preventing metabolic syndrome and obesity. Tree nuts include almonds, macadamias, pecans, Brazil nuts, cashews, hazelnuts, pine nuts, pistachios and walnuts. Metabolic syndrome is a name for a cluster of risk factors that occur together and increase the risk for coronary artery disease, stroke, and type 2 diabetes.

You may think that scientific validation of daily raw nut consumption lowering your risk of death from all causes by a whopping 20 percent would send a shock wave throughout the medical community and produce headlines on every major network TV channel and online information portal. Reports of this finding barely scratched the surface of the news bubble, though this important information could easily affect the lives of every man, woman and child around the globe and extend the natural lifespan of millions each year.

This could come as a surprise, because nuts have an undeserved reputation of being junk food, but a recent Harvard study of more than 100,000 men and women found that people who eat nuts regularly, even daily, are less likely to die from heart disease, cancer and respiratory disease compared to those who do not. The study also found nut eaters were healthier overall, with lower rates of obesity, smaller waists, and lower cholesterol and blood sugar levels.

Allergic reactions to peanuts and tree nuts can range from mild to life-threatening. But new research suggests that pregnant women who are not allergic to the nuts/legumes and who eat more of them during pregnancy lower the risk of their child developing an allergy to the food.

According to new research compiled by a team at Dana-Farber Children’s Cancer Center, moms-to-be who eat nuts during pregnancy were less likely to bear children who had peanut or tree-nut allergies. Once thought of as a food to avoid during pregnancy due to the theory that it increased the risk of allergies in children, nuts are a healthful addition to the prenatal diet.

The majority of consumers that eat or buy organic products do not want synthetic antimicrobials or antioxidants added to their foods and prefer a “clean label”. A study in the Journal of Food Science published by the Institute of Food Technologists (IFT) showed that extracts from pecan shells may be effective at protecting meats, such as chicken from listeria growth.